Infrastructure strategy: Hospitals and schools focus of funding push June 19, 2025 The government will plough £10bn a year into restoring Britain’s crumbling schools, hospitals and prisons as part of a long-awaited infrastructure strategy outlining the state’s investment priorities over the next decade. Over £6bn a year will be devoted to hospital maintenance over the next decade, in a move that the Treasury said will cut waiting [...]
Motor finance woes could make Close Brothers the next takeover target June 19, 2025 Close Brothers has fought tooth and nail in the motor finance battle but analysts have warned regulatory pressures may make the lender vulnerable to a takeover as banking juggernauts look to snap up the competition. The bank has had a bruising 12 months with its stock sinking to lows of 185p in November. Shares have [...]
Morrisons boosts sales amid looming ‘trolley wars’ June 19, 2025 Supermarket giant Morrisons has posted an increase in sales as it works to offload debt and compete in an ever-tougher sector. Like-for-like sales rose 3.9 per cent in the second quarter of the year, while total sales grew 4.2 per cent to £3.9bn. Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 7.2 per [...]
PSG enjoy record shirt sales after Champions League victory June 19, 2025 Winning the Champions League has turbocharged shirt sales to record highs for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). Sales figures for the first week since their new Nike shirt went on sale are higher than any other season sales for a similar time span. The 2024/25 figures are up 37 per cent on the previous club home record [...]
Lisa Nandy: AI and cultural exports boost growth – but creators must be paid June 19, 2025 Culture secretary Lisa Nandy has claimed that AI and cultural exports will drive jobs and growth, while insisting creators must be paid in the digital age. At the India Global Forum on Wednesday, Nandy touted the UK and India’s new cultural and tech affiliations for already generating investment – from sport and film, to AI-powered [...]
Blow to London Stock Exchange as Scottish Widows plots huge selloff June 19, 2025 The London Stock Exchange has been dealt another hammer blow after it emerged one of the UK’s biggest pension funds plans to massively cut its allocation for UK equities. The Edinburgh-based business, which manages as much as £72bn in pension assets, intends to slash the UK equities allocation in its highest growth portfolio from 12 [...]
A week in the life of 1 Lombard Street June 19, 2025 Soren Jessen of Square Mile institution 1 Lombard Street on seven days in the City… MondayDawn, and boxes of fresh fish on ice are arriving from Dorset. Chef checks the gills and the eyes for freshness and decides on the Fish of the Day for the menu. More boxes arrive packed with gloriously colourful vegetables [...]
Is Trump going to save TikTok… again? June 19, 2025 TikTok’s future in the US is once again in limbo – but this time, fewer in both Wall Street and Washington are taking the threat seriously. In a move that surprised few but frustrated many, President Donald Trump is reportedly preparing to delay a divest-or-ban deadline for the third time in the last six months, [...]
‘We need the next Nikolay Storonsky’: Labour urged to act now to create next tech unicorn June 19, 2025 The UK needs to attract the next Nikolay Storonsky to its shores if it wants a new technology revolution to be built here, the CEO of tech unicorn Motorway has said. Tom Leathes, speaking on an up-coming episode of City AM’s Boardroom Uncovered show, said the country needs “the next Nikolai to come over and [...]
Premier Inn owner Whitbread sees UK sales falter amid shake-up of pub business June 19, 2025 Hospitality giant Whitbread has reported a downturn in UK sales amid a “challenging market backdrop” and a restructure of its pub and restaurant business. The Premier Inn-owner told markets this morning that overall sales in the UK fell five per cent in the first quarter of the financial year, driven by a 16 per cent [...]